Turkey to freeze 2 U.S. officials' assets over sanctions

Aug. 4 (UPI) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday his country will freeze assets of U.S. officials in Turkey in retaliation of U.S. sanctions against them.

Erdogan said he would freeze assets of “U.S. secretaries of justice and interior in Turkey,” in a speech Saturday at the ruling Justice and Development Party’s congress for its women’s organization in Ankara.

“Those who think that they can make Turkey take a step back by resorting to threatening language and absurd sanctions show that they do not know the Turkish nation,” Erdogan said.

Erdogan added the countries should sort out the dispute soon.

“The channels of diplomacy are working very intensely,” Erdogan said. “I think that we will leave behind a major chunk of differences between us soon.”